A five-year-old boy was air-lifted in serious to critical condition last week, after taking a tumble at Gordon Bay Provincial Park.
“Because the child was transported in BC Air Ambulance, that puts the situation in serious to critical,” BC Ambulance spokesperson Kelsie Carwithen said.
The call-out took place at about 6 p.m., Wednesday, August 17, in response an incident that took place at Gordon Bay Provincial Park.
The Honeymoon Bay Fire Department was not called out in a first responder capacity.
“It is unusual,” fire chief John Rowley said, adding that there being trained first responders on-site at the campground could have been the reasoning behind this decision.
“Our situation was simply that we set up the helipad, and helped set up security,” Rowley said.
First responders with the fire department did not have any direct contact with the youngster, whom Rowley said was a five-year-old boy.
Rowley estimates that the helicopter was on-site for about a half hour, during which time crews worked to stabilize the young boy before rushing him off to the Vancouver Hospital.
The Lake Cowichan RCMP was not called out to the incident, but upon learning of it after the fact, began looking into it.
“We did start a preliminary investigation to eliminate foul play,” Lake Cowichan RCMP Cpl. Warren Potter said. “It appears to be an accidental fall.”
“He fell and hit the back of his head,” Potter said, adding that the fall was about 10 feet.
Potter said that the youngster was still in the hospital, as of last Friday.
The boy and his family was visiting the area, and live in Metchosin, near Victoria.
The Gazette will print information regarding BC Ambulance response times as it becomes available.
